


Once Upon a January

by katekane



Series: Once Upon a Winter [2]
Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 23:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17354327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katekane/pseuds/katekane
Summary: Physically speaking, not much has happened between them since Pippa finally, finally revealed the depth of her feelings for Hecate on Solstice Eve. They haven’t kissed, haven’t touched each other beyond what could still be considered platonic. Except Hecate has been holding Pippa’s hand, the way she is now, almost constantly. It anchors Pippa, assures her that this time, no matter what, Hecate is not going to run.December had Pippa and Hecate finally admitting their feelings for one another. January will have them act on those feelings.





	Once Upon a January

**Author's Note:**

> I know the Winter fluff event is technically over, but I am continuing this Hicsqueak journey for a bit to allow for a bit of eventual smut.

It is a new born year, and by now Pippa has seen nearly fifty of them come and go. She should know better than to think a single digit means anything more than the need to replace one calendar with another.

Yet she cannot help but feel that this particular new year is different. Everything feels fresh. She feels more alert than she has in decades. The frozen grass sparkles and makes these crisp, rhythmic sounds underneath her and Hecate’s feet as they stroll the grounds of the Pentangle Academy. The air is so cold their breaths form puffy clouds in front of them, and the drops of moisture that gather then freeze on Hecate’s upper lip are tiny jewels in the dark, bright against the pitch black. Everything is contrast. Between the free fall Pippa experienced not long ago and the solidity of the connection to Hecate she feels now. Between the bite of frost and the softness of her friend’s gaze. Between the cold of January and the warmth of their clasped hands.

Physically speaking, not much has happened between them since Pippa finally, finally revealed the depth of her feelings for Hecate on Solstice Eve. They haven’t kissed, haven’t touched each other beyond what could still be considered platonic. Except Hecate has been holding Pippa’s hand, the way she is now, almost constantly. It anchors Pippa, assures her that this time, no matter what, Hecate is not going to run.

This particular night Hecate seems determined to not merely stay, but to lead, at least for a little while. She was the one suggesting they went stargazing. She was the one pulling Pippa by the hand. And now she is _talking_ , without any prompting from Pippa.

“I should have suggested this walk two days ago when there was no moon in the sky,” Hecate sounds mildly apologetic. “But it was new moon only yesterday, so we should have nearly optimal viewing conditions.”

The moon, like everything else, is indeed new, Pippa thinks with a smile. The barely there waxing crescent moon looks like a mark left behind by a fingernail. Perhaps because of her somehow heightened awareness tonight Pippa can sense the contours of Hecate’s fingernails against the back of her own hand even when Hecate is not squeezing it. At the Spelling Bee, she had noticed those nails as well. They were hard to miss: long and pointy and black. At some point between Solstice and now Hecate has shortened and rounded them. The possible implications make Pippa shiver, and when Hecate clearly takes this as a sign that she is cold and draws her closer, Pippa doesn't correct the mistake. Now she feels Hecate’s surprising warmth stream into not just her hand, but her entire right side.

“The Andromeda Galaxy is clearly visible tonight. Right there.” Hecate points to the sky with their linked hands, and Pippa is mostly focused on the way their fingers shift slightly against and between each other with the movement, but she tries to listen to Hecate’s directions none the less. “Just follow the arrow made up of the three rightmost stars of Cassiopeia. The light left Andromeda well over two million years ago.”

Pippa leans a little closer under the pretence of trying to follow Hecate’s gaze. Hecate doesn’t shrink away from the closeness, but she does appear to be a little nervous. Coming from anyone else, the Andromeda speech might seem impressively scientific, but this is as close to rambling as Hecate, ever succinct and to the point, gets.

“Since we are far from the city we can even spot M33, the third largest galaxy in our own group of galaxies. It would normally require binoculars, but I find them unnecessarily restricting.”

There is a whisper of magic in the air. Pippa feels it like a breath against her cheek; it smells of Hecate, and she wants to let it fill her lungs, but instead it is as if her vision is expanded. If her senses were heightened before, it was nothing compared to how clearly she sees everything now. The stars have multiplied by thousands, their light brightened immensely, and she can easily see M33 now. It looks like a lace handkerchief left behind in the middle of the sky. Pippa laughs, partially because she is astonished, partially because this is so, so Hecate. “You found a binoculars spell for stargazing? Or did you invent it yourself?”

“I… Well, I didn’t entirely invent it. I based it loosely on the myopia spell.” Hecate sounds unusually modest, almost embarrassed, and now Pippa knows for certain she is nervous.

“It doesn’t surprise me. Even when we were teenagers you knew every constellation. You’re an adorable nerd.” She squeezes Hecate’s hand reassuringly and fully expects her to blush at the statement, but instead her friend seems to grow pensive.

When Hecate speaks again, it is rushed, closer to rambling than ever, as if the words are falling on top of each other to get out. “I always thought the night sky was similar to your skin, the constellations just like the freckles on your face. That’s why I learned them so well. I could stare at the sky for as long as I wanted to without… Without overstepping or imposing or, or making you uncomfortable the way I knew I would have if I had looked at you the way I wanted to. And the sky was a constant. Even after I… during the years when we were estranged, I would look up and see you.”

Pippa is shivering again, and by now Hecate must realise it has nothing to do with the cold; her entire right arm, her side, her thigh are pressed against Hecate. Really, she shouldn’t be taken aback by Hecate’s revelation. There has always been so much tenderness inside of her friend, Hecate is just used to having to hold it back. That’s probably why her words come out a little clumsily. Pippa loves her all the more for it; for the immense amount of trust it must take for Hecate to let go like this.

Pippa wants to respond properly. She wants to tell Hecate that this is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to her. She wants to tell her how much it means to know Hecate never truly let go of her, even when they weren’t speaking. She wants to tell her how wrong Hecate was all those years ago; that her affections, and her gaze, would have been welcomed.

She settles for: “You can look now.”

Hecate slowly lowers her gaze from the sky and turns until she is facing Pippa. Their breaths mingle between them, and if Hecate sees constellations in Pippa’s freckles, then Pippa sees the entire universe in the tiny frost crystals on Hecate’s cheeks, nose and in her hair. Out of the corner of her eye she senses the motion of Hecate’s free hand as she reaches for the edge of Pippa’s face, frames it gently.

Hecate has accepted her offer. She is looking at Pippa in a way she never really has before. It is impossible, of course, but Pippa thinks she feels Hecate’s gaze caress her as she takes in every inch of Pippa’s face with an unfamiliar gleam in her eyes that might be curiosity or thoroughness or greed or… The delicate shiver from earlier becomes a full-body shudder when Pippa realises what the gleam stems from: Desire.

Hecate responds with a knowing smile that soon turns melancholic. “Your face has changed a little since then.”

Even as she feels Hecate’s thumb affectionately stroking her cheek she winces. “I look old. It cannot be helped.”

The melancholy disappears from Hecate’s face at that, her smile widening. “We are both _older_ ,” she corrects her, “but I would not help or change a thing about you. Not a single line. To me, they make you lovelier."

Pippa smiles as well now; Hecate really is becoming quite the romantic.

“What I meant was precisely what I said: your face has changed. And…” Hecate hesitates, her gaze flickering to the thumb still stroking Pippa’s cheek. “And if you are not opposed to the idea, I would very much like to relearn it.” She finds Pippa’s eyes, a bit uncertainly.

“That would not be… _unacceptable_ ,” Pippa says playfully, and it has the intended effect: Hecate laughs.

“Careful, now. Mildred barely got away with impersonating me without receiving detention.”

Pippa raises an eyebrow challengingly, about to give a cheeky reply, then changes her mind and settles for honesty. “I’m always careful with you, Hiccup. Not because you scare me in the least, but because you are precious.”

The sudden change in mood makes Hecate blink. She opens her mouth, closes it again, then purses her lips ever so slightly, and oh, how Pippa are drawn to them. She leans into Hecate's hand so the corner of her own mouth grazes Hecate’s thumb, and now Hecate’s eyes seem drawn to the point of contact. Where Pippa felt contrasts earlier in the evening, she is now seeing sameness. She is seeing her own affection and attraction mirrored in Hecate. She really doesn’t have to ask; it is all in plain sight, but she does anyway, because she truly wants to be careful with Hecate: “Can I kiss you?”

Hecate is apparently back to her usual to-the-point self, so she forgoes superfluous words, slides her hand into Pippa’s hair and pulls her towards herself.

In the end, it is impossible to tell who kisses whom. When their mouths meet, then their teeth and tongues, it is so obviously mutual that Pippa wants to slap herself for taking more than three decades to pick up on it. Instead, she focuses on this brand new year; lets herself sink into it and into Hecate without abandon knowing that Hecate will also, always, be careful with her.


End file.
